Moving device for dolls

ABSTRACT

A stage which moves magnetically attractable doll carriers along a prescribed path and occasionally rotates them to display all sides of dolls on the carriers. The stage includes a belt with notches extending beneath the path to be followed by a carrier, and magnets loosely held in the notches to be pulled with the belt. The carriers have gear teeth on their periphery and the stage has several racks located along the carrier path to engage and rotate the carriers as they move along the path. Each rack is located a distance from the center of the belt path, which is much less than the radius of the carrier, so that magnetic forces act like a spring urging the carrier sidewardly into firm engagement with the rack.

Elnited States Patent 11 1 Von Winckelmann 51 Sept. 11,1973

[ MOVING DEVICE FOR DOLLS [73] Assignee: Mattel, Inc., Hawthorne, Calif.

[22] Filed: Oct. 12, 1971 [211 Appl. No.: 188,282

Primary ExaminerLouis G. Mancene Assistant ExaminerD. L. Weinhold Attorney-Seymour A. Scholnick [57] ABSTRACT A stage which moves magnetically attractable doll carriers along a prescribed path and occasionally rotates them to display all sides of dolls on the carriers. The stage includes a belt with notches extending beneath the path to be followed by a carrier, and magnets loosely held in the notches to be pulled with the belt. The carriers have gear teeth on their periphery and the stage has several racks located along the carrier path to engage and rotate the carriers as they move along the path. Each rack is located a distance from the center of the belt path, which is much less than the radius of the carrier, so that magnetic forces act like a spring urging the carrier sidewardly into firm engagement with the rack.

2 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures PATENTEU SEN I I915 SHEEY 2 BF 2 MOVING DEVICE FOR DOLLS BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to doll accessories, and more particularly to stages and other apparatus for moving dolls.

Doll stages that can move and rotate a doll provide entertaining accessories for use with fashion dolls, to simulate fashion shows. It is generally desirable to conceal the moving mechanisms of the stages so that the doll and any small carrier which holds it appear to move without external mechanical linkages. Belts can be concealed under a stage and connection to a doll carrier can be made through a slot in the stage, but the appearance of the slot that defines the doll path tends to create an articifial appearance. Magnets held by a belt can drag a magnetically attractable carrier along a stage, but generally the carriers have not been rotated at particular locations along the path to enable display of all sides of the dolls. A stage of relistic appearance for moving dolls in a fashion show display, rotating the dolls at several positions along its path, would provide an entertaining doll accessory. Of course, the stage device must be of simple and economical design to enable it to be mass produced at low cost.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In accordance with one embodiment of the invention, a simple doll moving device is provided which moves doll carriers and turns them at predetermined locations to display all sides of the doll in a manner simulating a fashion show. The apparatus includes a frame, a belt extending in a closed loop along a groove formed in the frame, and a hand wheel for driving the belt along its looped path. The belt has several notches that loosely receive round magnets, to drag them along with the belt along its path. Doll carriers, constructed of magnetically attractable material and placed on the frame, are moved by the magnets along a path above the belt path. Several gear tracks are located along the carrier to turn it. The racks are located a distance from the center of the belt path which is less than the radius of the carrier. As a result, magnetic forces act like a spring urging the carrier against the rack to assure firm engagement therewith. The frame has a top wall devoid of slots or the like, so that the doll does not appear to be mechanically confined.

The novel features of the invention are set forth with particularity in the appended claims. The invention will be best understood from the following description when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawmgs.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view of doll moving apparatus constructed in accordance with the invention;

FIG. 2 is a view of the apparatus of FIG. 1, with the frame shown only in phantom lines;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged, partial cross-sectional view taken along the line 3-3 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged plan view of a region of the apparatus of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 5 is an enlarged, partial cross-sectional view taken along the line 5-5 of FIG. 1.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS As illustrated in FIGS. I and 2, a doll moving apparatus 9 includes a frame 10 with a top wall or support member 12 that can support a doll carrier 14. The carrier 14 can hold 'a doll 16, particularly a fashion type doll, that is to move along a path and occasionally turn to display its costume. When a child turns a hand crank 18 on the frame, the carrier 14 and doll thereon move along a path indicated by the line 20 on the upper surface of the top wall 12. The top wall does not have slots or the like in it which indicate the path of the doll carrier. However, three racks 22, 24, 26 are located beside the path of the carrier to turn it at these locations.

The path of the doll is defined by another wall 28 below the top wall 12, which forms a groove 30 extending below the doll path 20. A belt 32, disposed on one edge 33 in the groove 30, extends in a closed loop therealong. The belt has three notches 34 provided in its other edge 35 for loosely receiving three disc-shaped magnets 36 and pulling them along the belt path. The magnets serve as transport members that attract material such as iron in the doll carrier 14, to drive or transport the carrier as the belt moves along its path. The belt is driven by sprockets 37 on a sprocketed wheel assembly 38 located along the belt path. The wheel assembly 38 is rotated when a child turns the hand crank 18, and sprockets 37 engage apertures 39 in belt 32 moving the belt along its path.

Referring also to FIGS. 3-5 it can be seen that the groove 30 has a narrow lower region 40 for receiving only the belt 32, and a wider upper region 42 which is only slightly wider than the diameter of the magnets 36 to closely confine the magnets to slideable movement along the belt path. The magnets 36 are loosely held in the belt slots 34 and in the upper groove portion 42, so that the magnets can readily slide along the path and can freely rotate, However, the magnets 36 cannot shift sidewardly by more than a small amount, so that they remain engaged with the belt and remain nearly centered on the path of the belt.

The doll carrier 14 has a covering 44, a cross-like receiver 46, for holding the feet of doll 16, a core 48, of iron or other magnetically attractable material, and a plurality of teeth 49, for engaging racks 22, 24 and 26. Magnetic attraction between the magnet 36 and the core 48 normally causes the carrier to be centered on the magnet 36 and therefore centered on a path that lie'sover the belt 32. The carrier isof large diameter with the radius R. The lateral spacing S of the rack 22 (as measured from the average depth of its teeth 50) from the center of path 20 is substantially less than the radius R of the carrier. Additionally, the racks 22, 24, and 26 are made from a magnetizable material. vAccordingly, the carrier is sidewardly displaced when it reaches one of the racks 22, 24 or 26. The sideward displacement is small enough that the core 48 of the carrier covers most of the area of-the magnet 36, to assure that the carrier will be pulled past the rack. However, the sideward displacement of the carrier provides a component of magnetic attraction which urges teeth 49 of the carrier 14 into engagement with teeth 50 of the rack, to assure that the carrier will rotate as it passes along the rack.

The doll moving apparatus 9 can be constructed at low cost, and yet it provides an attractive and realistic looking and operating stage for doll fashion shows and the like. Most of the frame can be constructed by vacuum forming, while the top wall 12 can be formed from a flat sheet held to the rest of the frame. The crank wheel 19 with the hand crank 18 thereon, and the gear wheel assembly 38, can each be formed by injection molding. The only belt guiding or engaging wheel required along the path of the belt is the wheel assembly 38, inasmuch as the walls 51, 52 of groove 30 serve to guide the belt over the rest of its path even if a winding path is provided. The belt can be easily installed by dropping it in place with apertures 39 engaged with sprockets 37 on wheel assembly 38. The magnets 36 can be installed by merely dropping them into the notches 34 on belt 32. The magnets thereafter move with the belt along its path, but can freely rotate relative to the belt. Of course, carriers 14 may contain magnets, that is, can be constructed of magnetically attractive material and magnetized, or unmagnetized pieces of iron may lie in the belt notches.

After the magnets 36 are installed, top wall 12 can be installed on frame 10. The doll carriers 14 are also easily installed by a child, who merely places them somewhere along the doll path, to be picked up by the next magnet moving therealong. If the child is in doubt as to where to place the carrier, she can merely place it beside one of the racks such as rack 22. No difficult manipulations or delicate mechanisms are involved in installing the carrier on the frame, and the path of the doll along the top wall of the frame is not defined by a groove or the like that would add an artificial aspect.

Although particular embodiments of the invention have been described and illustrated herein, it is recognized that modifications and variations may readily occur to those skilled in the art, and consequently, it is intended that the claims be interpreted to cover such modifications and equivalents.

What is claimed is:

1. A figure toy moving apparatus comprising:

belt means extending in a closed loop along a predetermined path;

means for driving said belt means along said predetermined path;

at least one transport member constructed of magnetically attractable material and coupled to said belt means to move with it along said predetermined path;

a circular toy carrier member having a toothed periphery and attractable material for magnetic attraction to said transport member to move with it along said path, at least one of said members constructed of a magnetically retentive material and magnetized;

a support member covering said at least one transport member for supporting said carrier member in operative association with said at least one transport member;

at least one magnetized rack means mounted on said support member and extending adjacent said path for engaging said teeth on said carrier member to rotate it as it moves thereby;

said belt means moving said at least one transport member substantially centrally along said path;

said rack means lying at a distance from the center line of said path which is less than the radius of said circular carrier member, whereby magnetic forces displace said carrier member sidewardly and resiliently urge it into engagement with said rack.

2. A figure toy moving apparatus comprising:

a frame having a top wall for supporting a figure toy carrier and upstanding spaced side walls defining an endless and upwardly open groove beneath said top wall;

an endless belt extending in a looped path along said groove, said belt being provided with at least one upwardly facing notch;

means for driving said belt along said groove to be guided solely by said side walls;

a magnet loosely disposed in said at least one notch and lying in a widened upper portion of said groove, so that as said belt moves along its looped path it drags said magnet therealong while permitting rotation of said magnet.

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1. A figure toy moving apparatus comprising: belt means extending in a closed loop along a predetermined path; means for driving said belt means along said predetermined path; at least one transport member constructed of magnetically attractable material and coupled to said belt means to move with it along said predetermined path; a circular toy carrier member having a toothed periphery and attractable material for magnetic attraction to said transport member to move with it along said path, at least one of said members constructed of a magnetically retentive material and magnetized; a support member covering said at least one transport member for supporting said carrier member in operative association with said at least one transport member; at least one magnetized rack means mounted on said support member and extending adjacent said path for engaging said teeth on said carrier member to rotate it as it moves thereby; said belt means moving said at least one transport member substantially centrally along said path; said rack means lying at a distance from the center line of said path which is less than the radius of said circular carrier member, whereby magnetic forces displace said carrier member sidewardly and resiliently urge it into engagement with said rack.
 2. A figure toy moving apparatus comprising: a frame having a top wall for supporting a figure toy carrier and upstanding spaced side walls defining an endless and upwardly open groove beneath said top wall; an endless belt extending in a looped path along said groove, said belt being provided with at least one upwardly facing notch; means for driving said belt along said groove to be guided solely by said side walls; a magnet loosely disposed in said at least one notch and lying in a widened upper portion of said groove, so that as said belt moves along its looped path it drags said magnet therealong while permitting rotation of said magnet. 